One of the main lessons of Arendt’s Origins of Totalitarianism is that we must actively think in the now, and try to grasp new realities on their own terms.
Articles on Totalitarianism
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George Orwell, the author of two classic anti-totalitarian, pro-freedom novels from the 1940s, was a democratic socialist who opposed authoritarian leaders of the left and the right.
Arendt maintained that our ‘common sense’ depends on our good will and curiosity, our adventurous enjoyment of testing opinions and perspectives against those of others.
Over the past 15 years, the world has seen a financial crisis, the rise of populist politics and a fracturing of the world economic order. Sounds all a bit pre-WWII, right?
The perceived “otherness” of eastern and central Europe is a complex phenomenon, which a new book on the Polish Nobel laureate’s oeuvre brings to light.
Milan Kundera, the celebrated Czech author best known for The Unbearable Lightness of Being, has died, aged 94. His work interrogated totalitarianism and explored ideas – leavened with bleak humour.
The best of the past week’s coverage of the war in Ukraine.
In ideological terms, Putin’s regime is neither totalitarian nor fascist. But it is reactionary, and in a way that begs questions about the recent maltreatment of language in Western politics
Putin often uses words to mean exactly the opposite of what they normally do – a practice diagnosed by political author George Orwell as ‘doublespeak,’ or the language of totalitarians.
The convoy’s comparison of Canada’s current government to Nazi Germany draws on previously existing statephobia.
George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” was an instant success when it was first published. His writings on totalitarianism and socialism continue to be relevant today.
What are the political implications of AI knowing us better than we know ourselves?
Any amateur politician can engage in lying. President Donald Trump is going further than that. He’s engaging in ‘post-truth’.
Technology has made many aspects of daily life much easier. So why do we still feel so overwhelmed?
As despotic personality cults go, Stalin’s example still leads the pack. But North Korea’s ruling family have taken it to a new extreme.
Critical decolonisation means accepting risk of error. It means considering whether indigenous knowledge systems might contain truths that western science hasn’t accessed.
As Solzhenitsyn saw it, simple truths are always a threat to totalitarianism.
Donald Trump embodies the corrosive culture of narcissism at its worst. It’s a trap.
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Associate Professor of Philosophy and Law, Wayne State University; Institute for Humane Studies
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Lecturer, Goldsmiths, University of London
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Emeritus Reader in History, University of Kent
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Research Fellow, Center for Philosophy and History of Science, Boston University
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Professor of Philosophy of Science, Durham University
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Senior Lecturer in Literature, University of Essex
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Emeritus Professor of Sociology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
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Senior Lecturer in Political Communications, Nottingham Trent University
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Professor in Political Theory, Durham University
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Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology, Trinity College Dublin
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Associate Professor in Political Theory, University of Birmingham
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Distinguished Professor Emerita of Creative Practice, Faculty of Arts and Design, University of Canberra
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Professor of History, Tufts University
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Associate Professor, English and Literary Studies, The University of Western Australia
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Doctoral Fellow, Sociology, Carleton University